Vote for your Australian idol

Sin isn’t only doing bad things, it is more fundamentally making good things into ultimate things. Sin is building your life and meaning on anything, even a very good thing, more than on God. Whatever we build our life on will drive us and enslave us. Sin is primarily idolatry.Tim Keller

It is useful to consider what our dominant Aussie idols are, as they may come up in conversations about God with non-Christians. Here are my 3 contenders for Australian Idol of the year, 2009 (25-50 y.o. range):

AFL (if you are in affected areas)

Homes/renovations

Instant Social Connectivity

Please share your 3 nominees. Either vote here in reply or SMS +61488715606 (OK well this is a lame joke, but you are welcome to text my mobile)

As you know, Daniel, this is where I do most of my evangelistic thinking. I try to expose idols and then show how they will fail and punish you if you fail them. They own you rather than free you.

I reckon that most of us are incredibly insecure which means that our default idol is others approval which is why we spend so much time losing weight, spending money on clothes, earning money, building houses, lying, being perfectionistic. Often it’s the approval of a parent or spouse or church or peers. But we so desperately need to be OK about who we are that we will do anything to have others tell us that we are.

The gospel of Jesus liberates us from this idol and, in the Cross, we see that we are desperately sinful AND deeply loved at the same time. This leads to a life built around Jesus and a healthy self-esteem.

Pleasure is a bit more subtle. I think it actually anaesthetises us from reality – i.e. that we are screwed up individuals. That’s why we sleep around, drink, do drugs, seek thrills etc.

Again, the gospel shows us that to be truly happy, and to have a pleasure that lasts longer than our earthly lives, we need to admit that we’re screwed up, turn to Jesus, become unshackled from our life-denying idols and live in Him; he one who gives us the ultimate “high.”

Freedom is similar. It involves self autonomy; which is actually self-imprisonment.

Piper talks about this stuff a lot – The Pleasures of God, “Christian hedonism” etc. (as does Keller and every other person who’s read and enjoyed Jonathan Edwards).

Thank you Al for your cogent insight into idols. The more this subject is poked and prodded the more green puss oozes out of our culture. The cause of infection is our total depravity and, as you have reminded us, idol exposure is a great way in to the Gospel with people.

Daniel. It’s not “culture” per se which is infected (actually I don’t like blaming culture for everything – even if I do know what you mean). It’s you and me. It’s the people in the church. It’s anyone who has been born.